“Spirit of Fire” Presents Films of the Special Program ‘Wish You Were Here’

The XХIV International Debut Film Festival “Spirit of Fire”, which will take place in Khanty-Mansiysk from March 12 to 16, has presented the films of the special program Wish You Were Here.

This program is dedicated to strong debut works that have already been recognized and awarded at other film festivals.

“Any festival is not only about discovering new names and films, but also about taking note of the experience of ‘friendly’ festivals that first highlight outstanding talents. In this process, at least for us, there is absolutely no element of jealousy or envy. It is simply a reflection of the reality of the filmmaking process. We loved not only these films whose directors made a mark at ‘Mayak’ in Vyborg or ‘Message to Man’, but also many remarkable works from the past film season that went on wide release and therefore did not appear at our festival. What is important for us is to highlight this cross-checking of real, not artificially advertised, values that exists between festivals. I hope that what is shown at our festival will later be noticed by other selectors, as happened with the film ‘Wind,’” notes Petr Shepotinnik, chair of the festival’s selection committee.

Participants in the Wish You Were Here Program:

• Instinct — directed by Filipp Ustinov

• Scenes of Friendly Ties — directed by Sonya Raizman

• Adventures of a Real Samurai in the World of Disasters — directed by Dmitry Vorobyov and Lida Kanashova

• Daylight Fireworks — directed by Nina Volova
  
  

The Spirit of Fire festival is a leading debut film festival in Russia and abroad, and one of the main platforms for young filmmakers. It was founded in 2002 by People’s Artist of the Russian Federation and film director Sergey Solovyov, who served as the festival’s president for nearly twenty years. Since 2023, the festival’s president has been the internationally renowned director Emir Kusturica.

The Spirit of Fire festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. 

Since its inception, the festival has also received consistent support from the Government of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra. 

Since 2007, the festival has been supported by Gazprom Neft, which acts as a co-organizer of the festival and its cultural and educational program, and presents the award for Best Russian Film in the category ‘For the Preservation of Cultural Traditions’.

The festival’s communications partner is the Roscongress Foundation.